Potty Time

I had full intentions of starting to potty train Savannah at the beginning of this year (when she was 18 months old) with the ultimate goal of having her potty trained before baby boy arrives in May. I wanted to talk with a few friends who have already gone through the potty training with at least one child to get all of their tips and tricks. I also planned to read the book "Potty Wise" so that I could do this the easiest and most efficient way.

Well, the holidays came and went and I didn't feel "prepared" at the first of the year to start with the potty training, so I put it off. Eventually, I attempted to read the "Potty Wise" book, but I only made it through the first three chapters and decided that, based on things in the book, Savannah wasn't showing the signs of being ready. I did talked with a couple of friends to see what advice they could give and it was helpful. My friend, Timina, even let me borrow her "Frog Pot" to help me get started when the time was right. It's cute, huh?

I sat "Mr. Frog" in one of our bathrooms and without ever showing Savannah what it was for, she would always sit on it if she followed me into the bathroom. This went on for a couple months because I still felt like I needed to set aside several days to be "hard core" about potty training and wasn't sure Savannah was ready to get started.

Multiple "stuck-in-the-house" snow days came and went, but I didn't take advantage of that time at home to get started. Then, spring break came (and went) when I had Savannah home with me more than usual due to MDO and BSF being cancelled. Yet again, I didn't take advantage of this time.

Finally, I realized I was never going to have (or make) the time to do this "hard core" and have it accomplished in just a week or two. So, with that, I decided to just start putting her on the potty a few times each day and see what happened.

Saturday, April 2, was the first day I gave it a try. I had been outside playing with Savannah, it was hot and sunny, so I brought her in just to cool her off and apply some sunscreen to her. While we were in her bathroom getting the sunscreen, she saw her potty and wanted to get on it. I thought "sure, since you're in a willing mood to do this, maybe it will produce something." I sat on the bathroom floor near her and she played with her baby, read books and talked to me as if nothing was different. She seemed to love sitting on her potty!

We were going on 20 minutes of sitting there and Savannah seemed much more interested in playing (although contently on the potty) than getting any potty business done. I kept asking if she needed to potty or if she was done, but she just didn't want to get off. And then finally, the look on her face changed and I knew what was coming. She ended up going poo-poo in the potty for the first time!

I was so proud of her and told her that she did good and now we needed to make it go "bye-bye". She refused to get off the potty. Literally, pushed me away when I tried to help her off and started to cry. I tried to bribe her with her favorite snack, with going outside to play and anything I could think of, but nothing seemed to entice her. It took about 10 minutes for her to finally decide she wanted off.

When she got up and looked at what she had done, she had a look on her face of complete disgust and repeatedly said "dirty, dirty". I dumped the poo in the toilet and was going to let her flush it away, but she wouldn't even do that much. She just kept acting like it was so gross to her.

We've been at this potty training thing for a whole week now. Everyday (that we're home for a nap), I sit her on the potty when she wakes up from her nap. I give her a stack of books (I even bought a few special "potty time" books) and she is as happy as can be. She has gone poo-poo in the potty every time that she has sat on the potty after nap time. And she went pee-pee in the potty for the first time today! 

We went from waiting 20+ minutes before anything took place and another 10 minutes to get her off the potty, down to getting her business done within 3 minutes of sitting on the potty and getting up right after. AND she will flush the toilet on her own, eagerly. Now, she even says "potty" when I go to get her out of bed after her nap. I think she's catching on pretty quick and I'm so proud of her! Who would have thought I'd be clapping and cheering about poo in the potty?! :) Oh, how I LOVE being a mommy!!!